Many mental illnesses are caused by autoimmune reactions to nervous tissue and neurological signaling chemistries and their receptors. Examples of such diseases are Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). PANDAS cause some Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and tic disorders. Researchers have reported finding antibodies that react to the brain's basal ganglia in people suffering from PANDAS (see an article entitled “Incidence of anti-brain antibodies in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder” by Dale et al. in Brit J. Psychology 187: 314-319, 2005). Researchers have also reported that the production of antibodies that react to these emotional and movement brain structures (i.e., the basal ganglia) is caused, or stimulated, by cross-reactions to antigens arising from Group A Streptococcal (GAS) bacteria (see an article entitled “Post-streptococcal autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system” by R. C. Dale in Dev. Med. & Child Neurology 47: 785-791, 2005).
Present treatments for OCD have primarily included psychotherapy and use of drugs. Most commonly, the drugs used are antidepressants. Such drugs are prescribed because they are believed to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain. Examples of such drugs are Clomipramine, Fluvoxamine, Fluoxetine, Paroxetine and Sertraline. Present treatments for tic disorders include prescription of atypical neuroleptics such as risperidone, ziprasidone, haloperidol, pimozide and fluphenazine (see an article entitled “Nutritional therapies for mental disorders” by Lakhan et al. in Nutrition Journal 7:2 1-8, 2008). A problem with these approaches is that since certain PANDAS types of OCD and tic disorders are caused by an autoimmune reaction, the aforementioned drugs do not address the root cause of the problem, namely, an immune reaction to the nervous system.